


Revenge is Best Served Hot (With Blood, Bullets, and Severed Heads)

by pretzel_logic



Series: Free of Dogma [7]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Red Hood: Lost Days, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Under the Red Hood
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Crossover, Bucky and Jason are good bros, Gen, also violent and not approving of sidekicks/underage heroes, dcu - Freeform, especially when they get killed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-24
Updated: 2015-04-10
Packaged: 2018-03-14 22:46:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3428327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pretzel_logic/pseuds/pretzel_logic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Another Robin dies. Jason and Bucky are not happy. Plans are made and Gotham is in for a reckoning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Next Stop, Atro City

**Author's Note:**

> Did not plan this but... the title works for Jason and Bucky. Stupid Hydra motto...
> 
>  **HEY! LISTEN!** On the series's homepage I put up a timeline going into dates, events, and ages of the Batfamily. As well as some info on Justice Society/Justice League.

They were between jobs and the information trail on Hydra went cold when they decided to take a break at their Pennsylvania safe house. It’s conveniently located in suburban Philadelphia and roughly a few hours road travel to Metropolis, New York, and Gotham cities. Central and Star are a bit further away, somewhere between a short flight or a long drive; their mode of transport to either of those cities would be dependent upon the level of urgency. 

 

Bucky was making use of the down time to research what happened to his sisters while Jason was looking into current events in Justice League defended cities. Honestly, he was surprised his brother had not made a move to check out Tim Drake before he retired from being Robin. Jason was even impressed the third Robin gave the position up.

 

“It’s a rush, being Robin. Knowing you’re training, working with Batman to fight crime and save people. It’s not something easy to walk away from. Only other sidekick I know of that did it was Roy and I can’t say I blame him between the drug addiction and becoming a dad,” Jason explained, smiling at the picture of the single father and daughter he found through the internet.

 

(Bucky understood Roy was something of a friend from his brief tenure with the Titans and added him to the list of people to tease Jason about. He was running out of fresh material about Dick.)

 

“It’s reasonable to assume Tim’s father discovered his masked identity and forced an end to it. Sounds like one of the few parenting choices the man made right,” Bucky grumbled. 

 

Bucky despised anyone that would hurt a child, even through neglect. Though he was starting to think the Justice League on a whole was worse for training children to be soldiers, training them with the intent of putting them in situations where they could get hurt or worse; not helping the Titans or Young Justice out of ‘respect’ for their proteges or just plain neglect. He wanted to break every single finger of Queen’s for kicking Roy out when the teen needed him most.

 

“Aw, don’t be a grumpy bear, Winnie,” Jason teased, expression promising jokes about honey if he continued having dark thoughts. The former Robin agreed that sidekicks and young heroes were wrong but, Jason thought convincing the kids to keep the masks off until they were older was the better solution than beating sense into ‘superheroes’. “Anyways, I’m checking out what’s been going on in Gotham. I know things were bad there lately and I heard rumors there’s a new Robin  _already_ .”

 

Bucky supposed another good thing about Drake retiring was Jason not taking his ‘replacement’ quite so hard. Hard to take it personally when all Robins were replaced in time. He left Jason alone to his research to grab groceries and heard over the radio about the assumed death of the latest Robin.

 

By the time Bucky made it back to the house the gym was a lost cause, he mourned it a little. It had been a nice a gym but, he’d take a destroyed gym and Jason over a gym and  _no_ Jason. It’d been a while since Jason had a berserk episode. Talia implied they weren’t supposed to last so long after pit exposure but then, she had no knowledge of anyone else like Jason, if there was anyone, ever being dropped in one.

 

“I’m going back to Gotham,” Jason said, breathing still ragged from his spent rage. Bucky studied Jason, noted his posture and expression. Took into account Jason was not asking to go to Gotham or ordering Bucky to go with him. He was simply stating fact and Bucky’s opinion did not matter at all.

 

“Okay,” Bucky agreed with a simple shrug. As much as he wanted to make fun of Jason’s surprised look, he promised the kid he was not returning to that city alone, he opted to stay on topic. “Got a plan?”

 

“Start small. Take over the majority of the drug trafficking, work my way into everything else from there. Give the crooks some time to adjust to the new player and rules in town. Then, work my way up the food chain, start wiping out anyone that won’t follow the new rules. When Black Mask’s little criminal empire is on it’s death bed, offer him an out; what’s left of his business in return for killing off the rest of his lieutenants. just so he’ll be the one to have put the final nail in the coffin of his criminal career,” Jason explained as he grabbed a towel and water bottle from the still intact cool-off area.

 

“You’re not going to kill him?” 

 

“I’ll let Batman decide.”

 

_He will spare the bastard. You know he will Jason. So why…?_ “You want him to do right by her, like he should have for you. Or at least give him the opportunity,” Bucky guessed and was pleased when Jason nodded. His brother was a fairly simple man but Batman and everything connected to the cowl was a Gordian Knot of complicated issues. Bucky could guess what actions and reactions Jason would have but his reasoning was always strange. “Speaking of Batman, what about him? The Joker?”

 

Jason’s certainty cracked then. He looked unsure, even scared but still so very angry. With another dead and unavenged Robin, Bucky did not blame him. “I- I don’t really care about the Joker. He might have killed me but honestly, any of the crazies I went up against as Robin could have done that. It’s Batman’s choice not to make the Joker pay, to not put an end to the bastard for what he did to me, that-” 

 

Jason looked on the verge of destroying the gym  _again_ or crying or both. Bucky did not even think as he moved forward and hugged Jason. Did his best without words to assure Jason that Bucky was with him, was there for him, and he was not going anywhere. Kind of wished Jason would figure that last part our already.

 

Jason buried his face on Bucky’s good shoulder, the one that was not mostly surviving skin over metal grafted to his frame to help support his mechanical arm. “I need to know why he won’t do it, why he won’t kill that son of a bitch. And-” Jason said quietly at first, his voice growing louder and angrier until he pulled away to glare his sincerity into Bucky’s face. “And I’ll kill that monster myself if he won’t!”

 

Slowly, cautiously, Bucky shook his head as held Jason close. “No. If Batman won’t kill the Joker, I will. For you,” Bucky promised and he meant it. Even if Jason was not his little brother in all but blood he would do it. Monsters like the Joker, you can’t save them and you can’t stop them unless you put a bullet through their heads.

 

Jason stared, wide-eyed, and speechlessly at Bucky. Surprise, elation, fear, and a desperate kind of hope crossed Jason’s face before he smiled slightly and chuckled in embarrassment. “Aw, jeez Winnie,” he muttered as he buried his face in Bucky’s shoulder once again.

 

Bucky carefully ran his metal hand through Jason’s hair as his flesh hand rubbed comforting circles into Jason’s back. “You’re my brother, punk. The Joker hurt you, killed you. You were a  _kid._ People that hurt children, they don’t deserve living and Bruce Wayne deserves all the heartache we’re going to put him through for putting you and others in harm’s way. And if he so much as calls one of you his soldiers-” Bucky had to stop talking and focus on controlling his artificial limb. He could accidentally crush Jason’s skull like this if he did not watch his temper and his arm.

 

Jason just laughed. “You know, usually my money’s on Batman winning a fight but, not this one. This one we’re going to  _win,_ no matter the choices Batman makes, we’ll win.”

 

They smiled at each other then, more vicious than friendly. Gotham was in for a world of hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, you're seeing the 1/? correctly. I decided everything that falls 'Under the Red Hood' events will be kept together in a single story making it the first significant 'arc' of the series. So this chapter is a bit of a prologue. I'm mixing up UtRH comic events with the animated movie BUT, I'm not rehashing the entire event. 
> 
> For readers unfamiliar with the comics and have only seen the animated film Under the Red Hood (if that), it’s my personal opinion Jason went after the Black Mask because he was at fault for ‘killing’ another Robin (IV Stephanie Brown, formerly Spoiler, comes back from not-actually-dead to become Batgirl). See, in the comics, there was a bit of an organized crime/gang war for control of Gotham and Black Mask eventually won.
> 
> What does Jason do aside from his Joker-Batman plan? Slowly with increasing brutality destroy the criminal empire Black Mask built. Batman eventually decides Black Mask was just the distraction but I disagree. There’s _layers_ to Jason's actions, that suggest what reasoning Jason claims for his action aren't entirely true.


	2. To Hell We Ride

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First steps of the plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so I think I mentioned previously I’m doing a fusion of comic and animated film for Under the Red Hood? Well if I haven’t that’s the plan. I’ll cover what events I’m snagging from which medium and what I’m adding at the end of each chapter.
> 
> Btw, all chapter titles for this fic are the song titles of lostprophet songs. So not only do I not own these characters and associated universes but, I don't own the chapter titles either.

Watching Jason in Gotham was eye-opening to Bucky. In a way, Gotham was and probably always would be Jason’s. There was a way he moved through the streets and interacted with people that spoke not just of experience but affinity. Jason knew Gotham and was comfortable with the city like no other place they had visited. The closest Bucky had seen to Jason acting so at ease was when they were on an espionage job.

“God, I hate this city,” Jason complained as soon as they were safely inside the warehouse they had decided to turn into their base of operations. “Nothing but false and broken promises here.”

“It’s your home,” Bucky said, not sure if he was arguing or not.

Jason glared at Bucky before looking away. His shoulders were stiff and hunched, defensive even as Jason’s stance changed to something more aggressive, offensive. “No. It’s really not. Just the place I know best.”

\---

It was not a significant difference but Bucky was a better tactician between the two of them while Jason was a strategists. It might have been Bucky’s idea that they needed to make names for themselves in mercenary circles to attract Hydra’s attention with relative safety but it was Jason that worked with Talia to create a multitude of fake identities and design their combat gear. It was Jason who chose their jobs based on what kind of reputation the two of them could build from it, it was Bucky’s job to make sure they succeeded.

Within a year under the names of Red Hood and Ghost, the two of them had earned themselves quite the reputation. Deathstroke might be the best mercenary but, it was clear Slade Wilson favored assassinations or combat heavy jobs. Jason had not wanted to attract the man’s attention more than necessary, avoided similar contracts in favor of ones that gave the impression that while Red Hood and Ghost were proficient in combat, they prefered stealth jobs.

It made Jason’s plans for Gotham abnormal. 

“Why this way?” Bucky finally asked as Jason outlined how he planned to call the drug bosses to a meeting and give them the heads of their seconds. It was flashy in a way they’d been careful not to be.

Jason grinned like a shark. “We don’t have much on Hydra but we know they’re all about order through fear. Nothing quite advertises a similar philosophy than making a big show out of doing so to Gotham’s criminals. Going up against Batman on his turf is big. People of all kinds are going to be watching. Let Batman and his League friends think we’re self-righteous thugs with guns, they’re not important.”

“They will be if Batman calls-”

“He won’t. He never does. Gotham’s _his_.”

\---

Jack Drake was a wheelchair bond drunk, drinking away what was left of his fortune mourning his previous life. It seemed like a karmic ending to Bucky but, it was a shame the man was dragging his son down with him. 

He wanted to meet Tim, get an idea of what life was like in Gotham after Jason's death. The news and photographs only told part of the story. What was Batman like after the loss of the second Robin? Why did he let the Joker live? Why did he take on a third Robin? All the questions Jason desperately needed answers for and had no means of acquiring without suspicion.

It would have to wait for another day. Bucky had a collection of headless corpses to dispose of. They did not want Batman paying attention to them just yet.

\---

Bucky expected Jason to be giddy, high off his successful meeting with the drug dealers. Instead he was grim and quiet, practically brooding. It’s unlike him.

“Micul fratele?”

“I can see myself doing all this before I met you. I was so angry and Talia was good at keeping me there. I mean, I still am angry but I’m also done with it. I’m tired of what Batman has or hasn’t done meaning so much to me. Living with Bruce and Alfred, being Robin, they were the best three years of my damn childhood. Until I met you I think those three years were the only good thing I ever had but, I got you now. I know who I want to be without trying to live up to Bruce’s high standards or in Dick’s shadow,” Jason explained giving a small shrug before smiling up at Bucky. “And I know you’re not going anywhere, not in ways it matters.”

Bucky hummed thoughtfully, looking over the cityscape of Gotham. “I once told Steve I was with him until the end of the line. The same goes for you. I won’t ever abandon either of you.”

“We’ll get you two back together, you know that, right? Gotham’s my personal demon but it’s just another stepping stone to infiltrating Hydra and destroying them,” Jason promised.

Bucky turned back to Jason and ruffled his hair fondly. “You’re a good brother, kid. A good man. Don’t let what we’re doing here or anything Batman says about it persuade you otherwise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From the comic: Well, naturally I’m having Tim, Stephanie, Barbara, and Cassandra exists in this universe. Tim just happens to be inactive (still, i know he was robin but not in town, Steph is not-dead in Africa, and Cass left to help Barbara set up a new HQ for Oracle and the Birds of Prey. Dick/Nightwing primarily works in Bludhaven and isn’t doing much teamwork related ops at the moment given the mess that is Gotham.)
> 
> From the movie: nothing that didn’t also happen in the comics so far.
> 
> Unique to this verse: Everything Bucky does obviously.
> 
> Out of curiosity: any characters from Marvel or DC you want Bucky to be the great- (great?) uncle to? He has been looking into his family tree afterall...


	3. Rooftops

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Batman and Nightwing meet Red Hood and Ghost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bucky's Ghost outfit... I wanted something similar to Jason's Red Hood outfit while being close to the Winter Soldier outfit from the bridge fight. So... 
> 
>  
> 
> Something like that ensemble with a jacket similar to his blue WW2 one but black overtop of the vest (with some level of armor to it) and the sweater underneath. Combined with gloves his mechanical arm isn't visible. I'm not sure what all weapons Bucky has other than at least three knives.

Jason had to admit his plans were more than a little complicated but, causing trouble in Gotham under Batman's watch meant complicated was a necessity. If you or you plans were too simple or easy, Batman would stop Jason and Winnie before they could get far. At least his plan was not so much a Gordian Knot of complicated and more like clock. The second hand was dealing with Black Mask and the minute hand was Batman and the Joker. As the two plans progressed they'd eventually put Winnie and Jason a step closer to Hydra. The Neo Nazi organization might not know it yet but their time was running out. It could be years or decades down the road but Hydra was going to be wiped out for good this time around. For Winnie to have whatever life he wanted Hydra had to go and Jason was going to ensure it.

 

It was the least he could do for his big brother.

 

Though speaking of brothers, Nightwing was patrolling with Batman. It made Jason want to sit back and watch the original dynamic duo work. He grew up with Batman and the original Boy Wonder patrolling the streets and making Gotham safer, if still pretty damn dangerous for a kid like him. There was just something a bit awe-inspiring about the two of them and maybe a bit of leftover hero worship from his crapsack childhood.

 

“It appears you’ll need me tonight after all,” Winnie commented over the comms.

 

“Yeah, think you can handle Discowing? He’s pretty abnormal a fighter,” Jason asked not really worried for Winnie in the long run but Dick’s fighting style took some getting use to.

 

Winnie laughed. “I have faced worse odds, Львенок. Not killing him will be the greater challenge.” From anyone else, Jason would call that an arrogant, stupid ass, boast. When the Winter Soldier made such a statement Jason took it as fact. “Should I drop any hints?”

 

Jason thought that over. It was dangerous and giving too much away too fast would ruin things. Still it would not be that hard for Bruce and Dick to find the Blake identities, poorly-hidden-on-purpose as they were. “Just don’t contradict our Blake identities.”

 

\---

 

Bucky watched as Batman and Nightwing took out the guards to the freighter and then their timely fleeing before Jason caused the ship to explode. Then the chase was on and he needed to even the odds.

 

As Jason leapt off the roof, he leapt onto it and went straight for Nightwing. The element of surprise and violence worked as expected. Nightwing signaled he could handle the fight as Batman continued to pursue Jason.

 

“Wow, first a red masked individual and now a black masked one. Tell me, where are the other Power Rangers?” Nightwing asked as he dodged a sweeping kick and then somersaulted away for some distance.

 

Instead of answering, Bucky assessed the distance as inadequate and moved towards Nightwing, drawing a knife to slash at the acrobat’s chest.

 

“Silent and deadly, huh? You guys are no fun,” Nightwing mock pouted as he once more dodged the attack and then used his momentum to kick Bucky in the chest.

 

It was a move Jason had used on him more than once, if less integrated into muscle memory. Bucky was not lying to Jason when he said avoiding murdering Nightwing would be the greater challenge for him. Except, now that he had an idea where Jason got his more acrobatic moves from it was easy to see how similar their base fighting strategies were. Nightwing was more agile and acrobatic naturally but, Jason had greater strength and a more intuitive knowledge on how to fight. Nightwing, it appeared, had trouble taking combat seriously.

 

All of it made Bucky think of this as less than a fight and more of a friendly spar. The Winter Soldier mindset was not far from the forefront of Bucky’s mind but, it did not have control. He would not kill Nightwing.

 

“We believe actions speak louder than words, Batman’s are damning,” Bucky said with unintentional honesty. Mentally he cursed as Nightwing looked at him in surprise and confusion.

 

“Really,” Nightwing drawled out as the two of them continued to fight, they fell into an easy rhythm Grayson was currently unaware of, too focused on getting Bucky to talk. “And you’re, what? Going to kill him for it?”

 

“Hardly,” Bucky scoffed, creating distance between himself and his opponent. Nightwing was starting to notice their fight had been too friendly. “We’re going to clean up the mess he’s made.”

 

Nightwing clearly wanted to question him further but the factory explosion distracted him. Buck made use of it to disappear as if he really was a ghost.

 

\---

 

Jason listened to Winnie’s spar distractedly, more focused on leading Batman to exactly where he wanted to go, the factory that created the Joker.

 

“Kind of amazing this place is still open, huh? You would think after creating one psycho clown they’d shut this place down. Guess that’s Gotham for you, never learning from mistakes and uncaring if they repeat,” Jason commented rhetorically as he let Batman spot him. “I think it’s time for a change, don’t you?”

 

He didn’t give Batman time to respond, not that Jason thought he would. Really, it was just to give Bruce some food for thought on a not-quite red herring. With a carefully placed shot the explosives started to go off and then Batman was too busy escaping the building to track him.

 

There was something cathartic about blowing up the chemical plant, like he was finally starting to take back the life he lost at the hands of a mad clown.

 

\---

 

“Sir, an unusual package arrived for you from Tate Consolidated,” JARVIS informed suddenly and his tone was almost uneasy. Weird. Usually only Tony could cause JARVIS to sound like that.

 

“Probably that negotiation bribe Miranda mentioned. What’s so odd about it?” Tony asked because he had to admit Tate was one interesting woman. She was just as terrifying as Pepper and Natasha but, very iron fist in silk glove about it. Powerful women were apparently his type because he was still on the fence about a partnership even though he’d been ready to say no at first.

 

“It appears to be a robot with limited Artificial Intelligence. An Amazo according to public records,” JARVIS explained.

 

Tony whistled as he finally put his power tools down. “Huh.”

 

That was one serious bribe. He was going to have to talk to Pepper about what, exactly, Tate wanted from his company… and attend meetings probably, ugh.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the comics: Batman and Nightwing investigating a mysterious ‘big’ shipment on a freighter that was rigged to explode by Red Hood. They chase him and eventually are lured to fighting the Amazo bot.
> 
> In the film: Batman and Nightwing find and fight the Amazo bot, apparently stolen from Black Mask by Red Hood’s men. After fighting the Amazo, they interrogate the thugs. Red Hood kills the thugs. Batman gives chase and Red Hood leads him to the still operational factory (why?) where the Joker was created. Red Hood drops a bunch of hints about his real and masked identities being connected to the Joker and Batman’s ‘mistakes’.
> 
> Original: Everything relating to MCU characters and Jason's 'talk' with Batman. About Bucky's opinion on Nightwing... it's flawed. Bucky's just hasn't really interacted with anyone like Dick since the Howling Commandos and is making flawed assessments on Nightwing as a result. No idea if/when it'll change.
> 
> P.S. I have tumblr [pretzel-log1c](pretzel-log1c.tumblr.com) if you ever want to drop me an ask or whatever. I'm always up for a friendly conversation.


End file.
